Several days ago, I was out with friends and ex-colleagues. Most of them are working as freelancers, which means they don’t need to clock-in every day to an office; they don’t have to “dress the part;” and they don’t have a boss.

What struck me was their idea of fulfilment. To them, it was using your God-given talent for something more meaningful and NOT wasting it away in some 9-to-5 job.

This got me thinking, “Does my job suck?”

A wiseman once said the best job that you have right now is the job that you HAVE RIGHT NOW. For me, when people tell you your life sucks because they feel you’re comfortable and you get to go home early and spend the evening with your kids and wife, I would politely tell them to f&&*^ o*(.

Life sucks when you don’t have a job. Life sucks when you’re always chasing the next meal. Life sucks when your kids, partner or even family are wondering why you’re always working late, but everything around you remains the same.

I am resilient. But I’m also NOT refusing every opportunity that is thrown at me. At my age, I take stock at things. I weigh them and think of my family over my own. I muse a lot these days. I think of the days when I was younger, when life was simple.

Does a corporate job suck at this time? No.

As Rica wrote in her blog, it’s all about mindset and culture. Of course, the people are quite important. People leave their jobs because of people (i.e. they hate their boss). People stay because of people.

Perhaps the next time my friends ask me if I should consider life outside of this corporate life, I would tell them it doesn’t matter what job you are doing right now, as long as you’re happy, and your NOT neglecting any people who matter to you in life.

Life is what you make it, as they say. It’s a bunch of decisions with consequences. There will be trade-offs. You choose which ones you’re willing to give up. This time, I’m happy where I am NOT because I’m working for a corporation. I am here because I’m learning from the best people who know great things that I don’t know.

Sounds cheesy, but that’s the truth. It’s just a job. It’s up to you to make it FUN and fulfilling.

As a journalist, I was often told to be quick to report the news. Get the facts straight. Ask the right questions. Get them out quickly. That was how I was trained in the university and later in newsrooms by my tough editors.

However, as I got used to doing reports and news, I felt I was missing the point of doing journalism. While I was still out to expose the truth and to inform the public, I wanted to tell great stories. Thus, I remember one colleague telling me about what’s missing in the 5Ws and 1H. It was the SW–So What?

Today, I was reading this little yellow book called “Show Your Work” by Austin Kleon who also wrote an earlier bestseller titled, “Steal Like an Artist.” I’m not big in self-help books nor do I endorse them, but sometimes I feel that we all need to be reminded about some universal truths about the universe.

Kleon–I believe–reads a lot of books, and one of the books that he came across was Significant Objects by Joshua Glenn and Rob Walker. He quoted from the book this line: “Stories are such a powerful driver of emotional value that their effect on any given object’s subjective value can actually be measured objectively.”

Kleon went on to narrate an experiment done by the duo where they picked insignificant objects from a thrift shop and got good writers to tell a story about them. They sold these objects on eBay along with invented stories about them. It turned out, people connected to stories behind these objects. Both sold about $100-worth of trinkets for $3K!

Telling good stories have always been my oft-repeated point when I talk about publishing in my class. What makes a news story better than the other? It’s great story telling–and with today’s technology, the means of telling that great story can help reach more people (think social media). But it’s the essence of a great narrative that takes people through a journey. Stories about paintings bring or even add more value to a piece of art. People value stories behind objects. As Kleon pointed out in his little yellow book: Work doesn’t speak for itself.

We need words! We want to know the story behind everything and anything. That’s human nature. We’re just too curious to know.

After reading this story on Quartz, I figured I needed to verify this ongoing debate about teens abandoning Facebook and Twitter for more “private” and “intimate” alternatives like Snapchat or Facebook Messenger.

So I posted this story to both my classes in digital publishing. And here’s what they said. (But before I go listing down their reasons, they all agreed, they’re NOT migrating away from Facebook or Twitter anytime soon).

Disclaimer: This is NOT based on any scientific method such as random surveys of a certain demographic of Filipino teenagers. What you are about to read are personal observations & notes from two groups of students in my PUBLISH class.

They are using various social media as channels for specific communication purposes. Facebook is seen as a public square where they are less keen on sharing private and intimate matters. They move from one social media network to another based on the perceived level of privacy. (Facebook has some privacy settings, guys).

Facebook is where old people congregate–some teens admit to blocking their parents–an idea that baffled me, considering I have daughters on Facebook!

They talk a lot through messaging services like Facebook Messenger, Viber, WeChat, etc. That’s their version of a water-cooler effect–a phenomenon where people gather in a certain area to chat.

Twitter is where they post random thoughts, rants, and opinions about things that matter to them. They go to Twitter to argue a point. They also see Twitter as source of news about politics, the society and celebrities.

Snapchat, to them, is a “private social network,” but it is NOT for everyone. They believe that Snapchat is designed for more “narcissistic” fellows— or those who want to share moments in their lives to smaller group of trusted friends.

Snapchat is where you post crazy stuff, one of my students said. I asked if they are willing to add me as a friend on Snapchat. I got jeers and grunts. Not a good idea.

Not all students in my class are on Snapchat. But they are all on Facebook, Facebook Messenger, Twitter & Instagram. Some say all social media platforms are important, but to a certain degree. They have preferences. But they admit that they love to TALK all the time, thus social media networks are perfect channels for this compulsion. (Fellow teachers, your students are talkative, albeit virtually, during classes).

Facebook, to some students, is useful for school matters. Ha! I do require them to be in a Facebook group. But there are alternatives like — er, Slack, anyone?

Again, they all insist that THERE IS NO MASS MIGRATION from Facebook/Twitter to Snapchat and messaging services.

Teens feel lost in more “adult-driven” conversations that fill-up their feeds. They feel that Facebook is clogged with topics that they don’t care about. Thus, they gravitate towards simpler and accessible services like Snapchat.

Meanwhile, one student went on to say that she’s getting annoyed by her 12-year-old sister’s random postings coupled with emoticons.

This debate about teens and millennials moving away from Facebook and Twitter will become less of an issue, as the younger generation discover niche communities where their voices are heard. Facebook and Twitter are both becoming global platforms where conversations are varied. There’s too much noise in these platforms. It’s a natural progression for human beings to socialize with people who share their same interests–and of course, who are of the same age and demographic.

It’s hard to imagine young people abandoning Facebook and Twitter because there are alternatives. There’s this FEAR OF MISSING OUT #FOMO, which still pervades their thinking.

On the other hand, Facebook and Twitter represent permanence on the Internet. The Snapchats of this world represent platforms that offer respite from regret of posting a mistake or a bad joke, which we sometimes, we do commit.

But isn’t it that the Internet has a long-term memory of the world. It’s our modern record of human history, sliced thinly into bits and bytes.

I made a leap a few years ago. It was a career shifting move. I took a path that was uncomfortable and scary, to say the least. It was an unfamiliar territory. I was starting from zero to 1.

Two nights ago, I was with ex-colleagues and friends. We talked about our current situations. My former boss told me I was one of the outliers who took the extreme path. I went out of my comfort zone to purse a career that I was uncertain if I would succeed. But then I remembered another ex-boss telling me this: “Know thyself.”

People will put you down. Your company will frustrate you and sometimes kick you out. But you should remain resilient. The journey is what matters. In this journey, never lose yourself.

I heard myself sharing this mantra to a new-found friend who was at a crossroad. He was brilliant and yet his company didn’t see that. What was funny was he felt he was being punished for doing things that are unconventional. He gave it his ALL, and yet the company was NOT acknowledging his contributions. He wanted to quit!

The above stories are fairly common. You may know of someone who was in similar situations. And there is nothing you can do but listen.

Don’t get me wrong. I don’t know the answers to life’s problems. My lessons in life are different from yours. We will all face challenges. And we will all go through low-points.

Today, I saw a film about Steve Jobs. The guy was not only brilliant. He was resilient. After he was fired, he didn’t muck around and took pity on himself.

Instead, he built a new company that would eventually show Apple what they were missing. What happened next was history: he got hired back, and was made CEO again.

Jobs took a leap of faith because he knew who he was. He was a visionary. He only wanted to put a dent in the universe. To get there, he was ready to shake up industries. He made people around him uncomfortable. But this happened because he had this thing called “reality distortion field.” When he was focused on succeeding, he abhorred mediocrity. He believed he could make insanely great products.

And he did.

What inspires you

During job interviews, I would often pose this question to any potential candidate: What makes you wake up and get excited about the day?

Try it. Ask anyone. See how they answer.

This simple question will reveal how self-aware one person is about themselves. Their answers will provide you some sense of their direction and their purpose in life.

In my case, I wake up in the morning excited to work because I know I’m making a difference. It’s a bonus if that difference also made people happy and inspired.

Take a leap of faith. Have fun. Dive in. Take a plunge. Swim. Get wet. It’s never too late to try out something new and fail, than regretting NOT doing it. Quit now if you’re tired. Resilience is NOT equal to submission or inaction.

Take a leap of faith. Throw yourself against the wind. Swim the other direction. Be THE red fish in a river-full of blue fish. Think the opposite. Take a full-circle.

Ownership of a blog means you own the domain, and you maintain and have it hosted on a third party service provider.

I have owned this blog for years now, and soon I will again renew my domain. I haven’t been very active here. But I wanted to keep the domain mainly for vanity! Nah. I want people to find my online persona quickly during a search.

I haven’t had time to update this personal blog, as I’m always on social. I’m more active in newer blog systems like Medium or this recent addition exposure.co.

So, do you still own your blog? Is it still necessary? For what purpose do you have it, if you cannot make money out of it?

My old-school self tells me, I’m going to keep this blog going for a few years. I just need to force myself to write more stuff here that would make sense for readers–my handful. Ha!